“Wild Cat” Take 1 – Joe Venuti and Eddie Lang (1928)

Here is the third version of “Wild Cat” released on 78 rpm: Take 1 from the 1928 session.

Take 3 was released on the Victor label that same year, but take 1 was held back until it was reissued on Victor’s Bluebird label in the late 1930s. This issue was pressed at some point between Fall 1938 and Fall 1943. Take 2 was never issued on 78 rpm, but does appear on a 10″ vinyl EP issued in the 1950s.

You can hear stylistic differences in this take – such as the way Venuti emphasizes a passage in his solo by making the bow pleasantly distort a bit (for example, from 0:23-0:25) – but in much of the tune, Venuti is largely inventive with his improvisation and you hear him play through different changes with entirely fresh and lively approaches.

Interesting to note the writer credit on this pressing omits the “V” from Venuti’s name. At first I thought maybe it smudged off somehow but other copies I’ve run across have this same typo.

Recorded in New York City on June 21, 1928.
Released as Bluebird B-10280.

Credits:
Joe Venuti- violin
Eddie Lang – guitar
Frank Signorelli – piano

Here are two other versions of this tune for comparison:

Parlophone R 3330 (January 1927)
https://youtu.be/HQfyu9JO0ww

Victor 21561 (June 1928)
https://youtu.be/EDmF3W68FVQ